Gdf, maxi clandestine cigarette factory discovered: 7 arrests
In Spilimbergo (Pordenone) in a 9,000 square metre warehouse, two complete production lines with 78 tonnes of cut tobacco: production of up to 5 million cigarettes per day
One of the largest clandestine cigarette factories ever discovered in Italy: 9 thousand square metres with two complete production lines, 78 tonnes of cut tobacco, 25 million packets with counterfeit trademarks ready to be assembled and filled with cigarettes. A production guaranteed by very powerful diesel generators that made it possible to run the entire factory while concealing the consumption of electricity. A system capable of producing up to 5 million cigarettes per day.
The operation
This is the discovery made in the municipality of Spilimbergo (Pordenone) by the financiers of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Udine, in cooperation with their colleagues from Pordenone. Investigations had led to the identification of some warehouses, in the province of Pordenone, which had the characteristics (structural, logistical, location) of a clandestine factory.
In one of the warehouses, located in the municipality of Spilimbergo, on the night between 27 and 28 May last, the Fiamme Gialle had seen an articulated lorry enter and leave after a few hours. An abnormal working schedule had prompted the financial officers to follow the vehicle in order to identify its destination: before the vehicle left the national territory to pass through Austria, the financial officers intercepted it and subjected it to a check. The vehicle was carrying machinery with clear signs of recent use in the manufacture of cigarettes.
The Blitz
This discovery further corroborated the hypothesis that there really was a clandestine cigarette factory inside the shed and that it was about to move to other locations. For this reason, the Udine financiers, in coordination and with the support of the military from the Pordenone Group and the Spilimbergo Lieutenancy, decided to raid the warehouse.
Six technicians, of Ukrainian nationality, and the driver of the articulated truck, of Moldovan nationality, were arrested in flagrante delicto for conspiracy to smuggle tobacco products. The magistrate at the Court of Pordenone, agreeing with the accusation, validated the arrests and ordered, for all of them, precautionary detention in prison.
